Overview

During the thirteenth century, the art of the Catholic West and Orthodox East
intermingled, resulting in a Byzantine style in Italy. This icon or "holy image,"
probably painted by a Greek artist working in Italy, is a perfect example of this
fusion. Known also as the "Kahn Madonna" from the name of the previous owner, the
large panel represents a full-length figure of Mary enthroned as Queen of Heaven.
She holds the infant Christ who, true to medieval convention, is a miniature adult.
In the flanking medallions, archangels hold orbs and scepters, emphasizing Mary's
imperial role. In this, the "Hodegetria" type of Madonna, she directs the viewer's
attention to Christ, thus pointing the way to salvation.

There are distinct similarities in style and subject matter between this painting
and the Byzantine icons painted in the East for the Greek Orthodox Church. The graceful
movement of the figures, the gold striations on the drapery which simulate shimmering
light, and the flowing, rhythmic lines identify the artist as a Greek painter. But
an Italian influence is notable in the tooled decoration of the halos, the perspective
of the wooden throne with its high back, the delicate gradations of light and shade,
and the distinctly Tuscan scheme of the rectangular panel with a full-length depiction
of the enthroned Virgin.

Inscription

Marks and Labels

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Provenance

Said to have come from a church, or convent, in Calahorra (province of La Rioja, Spain);[1] (Herbert P. Weissburger, Madrid), in 1912; (Emile Pares, Madrid, Paris, and New York); (his sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 18-19 February 1915, 2nd day, no. 306, as by Giovanni Cimabue); (Emile Pares, Madrid, Paris, and New York);[2] sold 26 November 1915 to (F. Kleinberger & Co., New York).[3] Otto Kahn [1867-1934], New York, by 1917;[4] by inheritance to his widow, Addie Wolff Kahn [d. 1949], New York;[5] gift 1949 to NGA.

[1] Osvald Sirén (Giotto and some of his followers, 2 vols., Cambridge and London, 1917) first gives this provenance, and it is repeated in the subsequent literature. The same provenance is also claimed for the so-called Mellon Madonna, NGA 1937.1.1, ever since its first appearance. Hans Belting (“The ‘Byzantine’ Madonnas: New Facts about their Italian Origin and Some Observations on Duccio,” Studies in the History of Art 12 (1982): 7-22), on the basis of information derived, he claims, from some “notes of E.B. Garrison,” states that the Spanish provenance of the two paintings is fictitious; he considered it to be the dealer Weissburger’s invention. NGA systematic catalogue author Miklòs Boskovits does not see any firm basis for such an allegation. He asks why should such an apparently unlikely provenance be fabricated for a painting considered to be, as was the Kahn Madonna, the work of an Italian artist, Cimabue or Cavallini. Speculations like those put forward by August Mayer (“Correspondence,” Art in America 12 (1924): 234-235) and James Stubblebine (“Two Byzantine Madonnas form Calahorra Spain,” The Art Bulletin 48 (1966): 379-381), linking the arrival of NGA 1949.7.1 and its companion-piece (NGA 1937.1.1) to Spain with the story of Anna Constance, widow of the emperor John III Ducas Vatatzes (who lived in Valencia since 1269 and died there in 1313), are, for the time being, idle. There could be various other ways to explain the presence of the two paintings at Calahorra (see Otto Demus, “Zwei Konstantinopler Marienikonen des 13. Jahrhunderts,” Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinischen Gesellschaft 7 [1958]: 93-94); the provenance should, according to Boskovits, be considered valid until demonstrated otherwise.

[2] The purchaser at the Pares sale is recorded as G.W. Arnold in an annotated copy of the sale catalogue in the NGA Library, as well as in a report on the sale in American Art News (27 February 1915): 7. Arnold is also given as the purchaser of other lots. However, there is a Pares invoice for the sale of the painting to Kleinberger later in the year (see note 3), so perhaps Arnold was buying for Pares, and the painting was actually bought in.

[4] Kahn owned the painting by the time of an exhibition at Kleinberger Galleries that was on view in November 1917.

[5] Although Duveen Brothers asked at least in 1941 what price Mrs. Kahn would accept for the painting, she specifically told them it was not for sale and that it was not to be shown to anyone (the dealer was storing the painting for her); Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: reel 328, box 473, folder 2; copies in NGA curatorial files.

Folda, Jaroslav. "The Kahn and Mellon Madonnas: Icons or Altarpieces?" In Research Reports and Record of Activities, National Gallery of Art, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, 7 (1987): 57+.

Folda, Jaroslav. "Icon to Altarpiece in the Frankish East: Images of the Virgin and Child Enthroned." In Italian Panel Painting of the Duecento and Trecento. Edited by Victor M. Schmidt. Studies in the History of Art 61 (2002): 127-129, 131-133, 139, fig. 4.

Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 4-5, no. 1, color repro.

2005

Corrie, Rebecca W. "The Khan and Mellon Madonnas and their Place in the History of the Virgin and Child Enthroned." In Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium. Edited by Maria Vassilaki. Aldershot, UK and Burlington, VT, 2005: 293-300, pl. 20, fig. 24.1, fig. 24.3.

2005

Folda, Jaroslav. Crusader Art in the Holy Land: From the Third Crusade to the Fall of Acre, 1187-1291. New York, 2005: 457, 557, fig. 299.